Expensive cancellation: Doctor's office now requires default fees!

Expensive cancellation: Doctor's office now requires default fees!

Salzburg, Österreich - Unexcused lack of doctor's appointments has increased in recent years, which moves doctors to introduce cancellation fees. This practice, which is already widespread in various service areas such as restaurants, hairdressers and hotels, is now also used in healthcare. According to Kosmo in particular, many doctors in Austria, especially since 2016/17, have struggled with the problem of "no-show". In Salzburg, the Medical Association estimates that about a third of the resident doctors raise default fees, while this proportion could be even higher in urban areas.

Professor Dietmar Bayer, deputy chairman of the Federal Association of Resident Doctors, reports that many doctors record one or two unexcused patients a day. To counteract this, Bayer has introduced a cancellation fee and receives many inquiries from colleagues regarding the implementation of similar fees. The amount of the cancellation costs varies between 50 and 120 euros, depending on the respective doctor and the treatment carried out.

legal situation and admissibility of failure fees

The legal framework for failure fees are not entirely clear. According to the Consumer center can. This loss of earnings usually occurs if no other patients can be treated in the relevant time window. Patients should therefore cancel appointments in good time in order to give practice the opportunity to award the appointment differently.

A judgment of the Berlin Regional Court from 2005 sees clauses critical, which require a 24-hour pre-announcement for terminals of appointments and a loss fee of 75 euros. Such clauses are ineffective if the patient has no way to relieve himself of non -appearance in no fault of the fault. This emphasizes the importance of transparency and fairness in the regulation of failure fees.

recommendations for patients

The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) calls for failed fees for missed appointments to solve the problem. Nevertheless, there are ambiguities in terms of the adequacy and legality of these fees. Daniela Hubloher from the Hessen Consumer Center recommends to cancel appointments as early as possible, ideally in writing by email. A 24-hour period for the cancellation should often be observed when using appointment apps.

Above all, reasons for no fault of their own, such as a rail strike or an accident, should be mentioned in the cancellation in order to avoid misunderstandings. The Consumer Center Federal Association also advises against staying unexcused so as not to endanger the relationship of trust with the doctor's office. Nevertheless, patients are not entitled to timely replacement appointments unless they are particularly urgent.

In addition, the different fluctuations in height of failure fees are remarkable. Some practices require up to 40 euros, although the regulation is not uniform here. Another judgment of the Berlin Regional Court, which discusses the clauses for default fees, has shown that the courts can protect the rights of patients if the conditions are not fair and transparent.

Current statements by Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) and patient commissioner Stefan Schwartze (SPD) show that the discussion about default fees increases in intensity. According to Lauterbach, fines in this area lead in the wrong direction, while Schwartze emphasizes the economic loads for households. So far, the KBV has not provided nationwide figures on NO shows, but more than clearly recognized the tendency to collect default fees.